The Curse Of Being A Writer
by swordfighting-cherry
Summary: Stefan has lived in Chicago all his life and seen a multitude of things. Some things that even normal people don't see. But when his best friend Lexi drags him to a club and he witnesses a murder by three people that can't be seen by anyone else... he decides he has to know more. Wouldn't you?


**A/N: So I wrote this off a silly conversation between me and Tumblr's **Stefansbox**, and I'm not sure if I'll continue because I don't know how many people actually want this sort of crossover, but here it is.**

**For now, I don't plan on involving any of the main TMI characters directly in the plot, but there will be the occasional reference and what not.**

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Stefan Salvatore walked along the streets of downtown Chicago almost every day, and that was nothing new. His father scolded him all the time for it, yelling at him that he was going to get shot or worse, but for whatever reason there was a small part of him that was attracted to the danger. It was sort of his way of counteracting the terribly boring life he led. Sometimes his best friend Lexi Branson would join him, but she was usually trying to drag him to places like clubs and concerts and while he did love the occasional concert, he generally would have preferred to be at home writing. He didn't know why writing had always appealed to him or why he was horrible at writing just about anything but fantasy, but he found himself dozing off as he imagined different worlds quite frequently.

It was a Friday night and Lexi had insisted on dragging him to a new club that she had heard some girl at school raving about. Stefan didn't particularly trust Anna's taste, but Lexi had her mind set on going and there was no way to convince her otherwise. That was Lexi, Stefan thought with a laugh.

He had just finished putting on his shirt before she burst through his bedroom door looking all dressed up. "Hey, come on! I told you I was coming over like half an hour ago."

"Well I know you're always late," he responded with a smile, then sighed as she grabbed his arm and dragged him out the door.

Maybe it was weird to some people that Stefan's best friend was a girl, and a very attractive one at that. They both had been teased about it enough at school, but it never bothered Stefan. He didn't have a crush Lexi anymore than she had a crush on him, and it had only started becoming a problem now that they were both older teenagers and interested in dating. Well, maybe that wasn't _totally_ true. It had been a little weird Freshman year when Lexi had started getting... _hot_, but after one or two times of making out only to have her start laughing and him joining in, they decided they were better off friends.

When they finally arrived at the outside of the club, Stefan was surprised to find that he wasn't annoyed by the décor or the oddly dressed teens all lining up to go in. Even though he would never admit it, he totally loved geeky things like this. He looked to Lexi, who was grinning, and said, "This is new."

"New can be good," Lexi said in return with a smile.

They went in and the dim lighting took a little moment to adjust to. The pounding goth music was at least far better than the usual horrible hip-hop that played in clubs, and he had to say that he definitely liked how not many people seemed to care about dancing sexily— he hated dancing. Stefan scanned the crowd for a moment as he followed Lexi further in. A boy with flaming pink hair and green eyes immediately asked her to dance and she obliged, shooting Stefan an amused look as she followed the guy onto the dance floor. Stefan chuckled to himself, glad that even if she hung around him she was still hot enough for guys not to care.

His breath caught when he saw a blonde girl examining the room. She wasn't necessarily out of place here, but there was something... different about her. She had a heart shaped face framed by light blond curls and black symbol tattoos snaking up her arms and neck. She was dressed in all black as well, but she stopped as someone from her party said something and laughed easily. Stefan had never seen anyone in all black and covered in tattoos laugh like that, letting her amusement light up her face as if she was a child. He started to walk over, unsure what he was doing. She had two people with her, a skinny brunette who was dressed in a slinky white dress and a guy that looked a little older than Stefan. He was dressed in the same black gear, covered in the same tattoos, but it looked like— it looked like he had _weapons_ on him. He stopped walking to them immediately and searched the crowd again. He found that a few of the costumes had fake foam swords and things which made it a little easier to think he was just seeing things, but he still stared at them, unable to look away now that his interest was piqued.

The girl in the dress started walking in Stefan's direction. She didn't look at him though, as he tried to shift his attention elsewhere and still keep an eye on her, instead focusing on a tall boy with bright blue hair that was looking at her rather greedily. She gave the boy a seductive wink and a playful smile, then tilting her head just a little in the direction of what looked like a supply room with the words NO ADMITTANCE on the door. The boy followed her there, looking absolutely disgusting. Stefan looked to the two she had been with, wondering what they had to be thinking, but both the blonde and the black haired boy were moving quickly through the crowd with rather— trained— looks on their faces. As soon as the guy moved, Stefan saw he had been right. There was a _sword_ on his back. _Seriously?_he wondered. _He thinks a sword will protect him in Chicago, the worst city for gun violence in the country_?

Stefan quickly searched the crowd to see Lexi dancing with a different boy now, not paying attention in the slightest. He briefly thought about breaking them up and telling her, but decided against it on the off chance that he was just stressed about finals. If he was wrong she would tease him forever. Instead he rushed over to the supply room as well, making sure to stay quiet as he opened the door that the two followers had gone through minutes ago.

There wasn't much light in the room, which made it hard to see, but after a moment his eyes adjusted and he saw the four people standing, the blue haired boy bound to the wooden wall by what looked like throwing stars piercing his arms. Stefan almost gasped at the sight of blood but was able to contain it as he looked to the black haired boy standing menacing close their captive. "So, _demon_, what the hell are you doing preying on innocent mundanes?"

"She isn't mundane," the blue haired boy snapped back in an inhuman voice.

_What the hell was going on?_ If he had gotten a drink before this he would have been convinced that someone had spiked it with herbal ecstasy or something, but he felt fine. He thought that maybe these people were crazy or part of some weird cult, but as shocked and confused as he was, Stefan couldn't say he didn't believe them. He had seen weird things before, things his father had denounced as an overactive imagination. Stefan had believed him after awhile, considered it his writer's brain just fantasizing.

"No, I'm not," the brunette girl responded with a stern look, "but we've been tracking you. You've killed three other girls. Did you really think you'd get away with it?"

The "demon" laughed, then shrugged. "You can kill me now, or I can tell you how to find Valentine."

"That's Clave business, Damon," the blonde snapped when the dark-haired boy hesitated, "kill him or I'll do it for you."

The boy named Damon gave a heavy sigh, drawing the sword from his back. It was so much like the swords in history text or fantasy novels that Stefan almost let himself be distracted by it before he looked at the boy they were about to kill and shouted, "Stop!"

It was almost like pausing a movie, except all the characters turned to gape at him, and suddenly Stefan realized how stupid he had been to come in here alone and even more how dumb he had been not to try and record this on his cellphone and just show the police later. Not that he was going to even _live _to see a later...

"Who the hell are you?" Damon said threateningly, his sword turned toward Stefan now.

"He's mundane, Damon," the brunette said with a confused look on her face.

Stefan still wasn't sure if this was an insult or not, but he had felt the courage he had originally been overcome with dissipate into a burning curiosity. If he stayed silent, they would probably give him more information as they tried to piece things together. The blonde that had originally caught his attention frowned at Stefan before quickly turning and throwing a knife into the heart of the "demon" that had just started to break free. Stefan watched in horror as it changed shapes, forming into this grotesque shape before vanishing altogether.

He gaped, completely unsure what to do now that the trio's attention was given solely to him. The guy named Damon started walking towards him, but the brunette stopped him. "You can't hurt him, you know that."

From Stefan's perspective, Damon looked like he would not have listened to anything or anyone else and even currently seemed contrary. Contrary and irritated, but submissive. "Fine, _Elena_, what do you suggest we do with him?"

"We let him go," the blonde finally spoke, having studied the situation carefully. Her voice wasn't harsh, like Damon's, but not as sympathetic as the girl named Elena's either. "We don't want to have to deal with the Clave anymore than we have to."

"Alaric will want to know about this—," Damon argued, although he didn't look like he particularly wanted Stefan alive either.

"Sorry, now that you've given me enough information, do I get a say in this?"

They all turned to him again. Both the girls seemed slightly amused— Elena had giggled— but Damon scowled. "I wouldn't suggest trying to find out."

"Oh, shut up," the blonde girl snapped angrily at Damon before even more various threats could be issued, instead turning to Stefan with an appraising look. "Have you seen things like us before?"

"Occasionally," he admitted, "if— if I go with you willingly, can I tell my friend that I'm leaving?"

He was an idiot for doing this. They had just killed someone. _No, something. Something evil_, his brain argued in return. But he couldn't help but think of all the fantasy novels he had written and all the books he had read and how every single hero started out at this point. Boring life? Check. Mysterious happenings that went unexplained and overlooked? Check. Sudden life altering event or people that you couldn't escape? Check. Who was he to break the laws of every epic? He may generally be the person who was comfortable with boring, but there was something about looking at the three of them that made him realize the gnawing emptiness that sometimes consumed him was a hunger. A hunger for something new, something different.

"No," Damon said, the same time as both Elena and the blonde chorused, "Yes."

The guy looked extremely annoyed and Stefan wondered if they actually often worked as a team. It didn't seem like it currently, but at least the blonde and Damon were dressed the same. He thought about asking them, and even though one of the girls might respond he held back. First, he had to figure out a lie to tell Lexi. Then... then, it was on to proving his father wrong.

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**A/N: I guess let me know what you think?**


End file.
